I feel deeply honoured to join you today during this 24th Session of the UN-Habitat Governing Council. On behalf of my Government and the people of Kenya, I warmly welcome you all to our country. Karibuni Kenya na Karibuni Nairobi.

It is my pleasure and honour to welcome you all to the 24th session of the Governing Council of UN-Habitat. Your Excellency, President Uhuru Kenyatta, let me start by congratulating you for your election as President of the Republic of Kenya, and the People of Kenya for the exemplary manner in which the elections were conducted. We all are honoured by your presence here today. We are profoundly grateful for the support that we have always received from the Government of Kenya here at UN-Habitat.

The choice of the topic “the role of cities increating improved economic opportunities for all, with special reference toyouth and gender” reflects the main challenge faced by governments during thecurrent crisis.

China is now in a period of rapid development of urbanization. It is the great challenges faced by the Chinese government as how to ease the pressure on resources and the environment, provide shelter and equal access to urban infrastructure and basic services for each family.

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its MemberStates. The acceding country of Croatia aligns itself with this Statement.

I wish to congratulate you, Your Excellency Madam AmalPepple, Minister of Land, Housing and Urban Development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on your election as President of this session of the Governing Council.

Almost a year ago,representatives from all around the world gathered in Rio de Janeiro and reiterated their commitment to sustainable development, recognizing once more the need to adopt a threefold approach – economic, social and environmental.Nothing shows more clearly how intertwined are these three dimensions of sustainable development than the dynamics of cities, which clearly reveals that a shortcoming in one of them adversely impacts the others.

Today, the world is in the midst of a massive urban transition unlike that of any other time in history. We live today, for the first time in history, in an urban century- more than half of us live in cities, and we’re headed toward 70% of people living in urban areas by 2050- a change with vast implications both for human well-being and for the environment. Almost all of this growth will be taking place in developing countries where urban populations are growing at over 3 percent per year, as opposed to less than 1 percent in the more developed regions.

On behalf of the Government and people of Nigeria, I congratulate you, on your election to guide the deliberations of the 24th Session of the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT. We are certain that under your guidance, and with the support of fellow members of the Bureau, we shall deliver concrete measures for improved human settlements globally.

It is a great pleasure for me to participate in the 24th Governing Council of UN-Habitat.

Today, I would like to comment on Japan’s cooperation toward the activities of UN-Habitat, and Japan’s efforts for building national resilience based on the lessons learnt from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

Nairobi
I would like to start by congratulating you, Madam President, and members of the Bureau, for your well-deserved election. I also wish to thank the outgoing Bureau under the able leadership of His Excellency, Minister Vincent Karega of Rwanda and his successor, Honourable Albert Nsengiyumva, Minister for Infrastructure of the Republic of Rwanda.

Thank you, Mr. President.
The United States has been a strong supporter of the mission of UN Habitat to deal with the challenges facing human settlements globally. Together with the international community, we note the progress made on the Istanbul Declaration of Human Settlements, while also recognizing the need for continue focus on the challenges of human settlements and urban development. As such, we look forward to working with the UN Secretariat and UN Habitat to ensure Habitat III has the most productive, efficient, and effective outcome possible.